Sidney Sheldon (13 page)

John Higholt was thoughtful for a moment. “What about Kelly Harris?”

“She’s in a hotel. Unfortunately, we couldn’t get into her suite to prepare it. But I have men staking out the lobby, and if it looks as if there might be trouble, they’ll handle it.” Tanner hesitated. “I want KIG to put up a five-million-dollar reward leading to the arrest of—”

“Wait a minute, Tanner,” John Higholt objected. “That’s not necessary. We’ll get this solved and—”

“Very well. If KIG won’t do it, I’ll personally offer a five-million-dollar reward. My name is identified with this company.” His voice hardened. “I want whoever is behind this caught.”

I
N THE COFFEE
shop across the street from KIG headquarters, Diane Stevens and Kelly Harris were seated at a corner booth. Kelly was waiting for Diane to speak.

Diane was not sure how to begin.
What was the dreadful thing that happened to your husband, Mrs. Harris? Had he been murdered, like Richard?

Kelly said impatiently, “Well? You said you wanted to talk to me about my husband. How well did you know Mark?”

“I didn’t know him, but—”

Kelly was furious. “You said you—”

“I said I wanted to talk about him.”

Kelly rose. “I don’t have time for this, lady.” She started to walk away.

“Wait! I think we might both have the same problem, and we may be able to help each other.”

Kelly stopped. “What are you talking about?”

“Please sit down.”

Reluctantly, Kelly returned to her seat in the booth. “Go ahead.”

“I wanted to ask you if—”

A waiter approached the table with a menu. “What would you ladies like?”

To be out of here,
Kelly thought. “Nothing.”

Diane said, “Two coffees.”

Kelly looked at Diane and said defiantly, “Make mine tea.”

“Yes, ma’am.” The waiter left.

Diane said, “I think that you and I—”

A young girl came up to the table and said to Kelly, “Can I have your autograph?”

Kelly looked at her. “Do you know who I am?”

“No, but my mother says you’re important.”

Kelly said, “I’m not.”

“Oh.” They watched the little girl leave.

Diane looked at Kelly, puzzled. “Should I know who you are?”

“No.” Kelly added pointedly, “And I don’t like busybodies prying into my life. What is this all about, Mrs. Stevens?”

“Diane, please. I heard that something terrible had happened to your husband and—”

“Yes, he was killed.”
Did you and Mark ever discuss Olga?

“My husband was killed, too. And they both worked for KIG.”

Kelly said impatiently, “Is that it? Well, so do thousands of other people. If two of them caught colds, would you call it an epidemic?”

Diane leaned forward. “Look, this is important. First of all—”

Kelly said, “Sorry. I’m not in the mood to listen to this.” She picked up her purse.

“I’m not in the mood to talk about it,” Diane snapped, “but it could be very—”

Diane’s voice suddenly echoed through the coffee shop.

“There were four men in the room.”

Startled, Diane and Kelly turned toward the sound. Diane’s voice was coming from a TV set above the counter. She was in the courtroom, on the witness stand.

“One of them was in a chair, tied up. Mr. Altieri seemed to be questioning him while the two other men stood next to him. Mr. Altieri pulled out a gun, yelled something, and shot the man in the head.”

The anchorman appeared on the screen.

“That was Diane Stevens, testifying in the murder trial of accused Mafia head Anthony Altieri. The jury has just brought in a verdict of not guilty.”
Diane sat there, stunned.
“Not guilty?”

“The murder that took place almost two years ago charged Anthony Altieri with killing one of his employees. In spite of Diane Stevens’s testimony, the jury believed other witnesses who contradicted her.”

Kelly was staring at the set, wide-eyed. A new witness appeared on the stand.

Jake Rubenstein, Altieri’s lawyer, was asking:

“Dr. Russell, do you have a practice in New York?”

“No. I’m located only in Boston.”

“On the day in question, did you treat Mr. Altieri for a heart problem?”

“Yes. About nine
A.M.
I kept him under observation for the whole day.”

“So he could not have been in New York on October fourteenth?”

“No.”

Another witness appeared on the screen:

“Would you tell us your occupation, sir?”

“I’m the manager of the Boston Park Hotel.”

“Were you on duty last October fourteenth?”

“Yes, I was.”

“Did anything unusual happen that day?”

“Yes. I received an urgent phone call from the penthouse suite to send a doctor up there immediately.”

“What happened next?”

“I called Dr. Joseph Russell and he came right over. We went to the penthouse suite to check on the guest, Anthony Altieri.”

“What did you see when you got there?”

“Mr. Altieri, lying on the floor. I thought he was going to die in our hotel.”

Diane had turned pale. “They’re lying,” she said hoarsely. “Both of them.”

Anthony Altieri was being interviewed. He looked frail and sickly.

“Do you have any plans for the immediate future, Mr. Altieri?”

“Now that justice has been done, I’m just going to take it easy for a while.”
Altieri smiled thinly.
“Maybe clean up a few old debts.”

Kelly was dumbstruck. She turned to Diane. “You testified against
him
?”

“Yes. I saw him kill—”

Kelly’s trembling hands spilled some tea and knocked over a salt-shaker. “I’m getting out of here.”

“What are you so nervous about?”

“What am I nervous about? You tried to have the head of the Mafia sent to prison and he’s free, and he’s going to clean up a few old debts, and you want to know what
I’m
nervous about?
You
should be nervous.” Kelly rose and threw some money on the table. “I’ll pick up the check. You’d better save your money for traveling expenses, Mrs. Stevens.”

“Wait! We haven’t talked about our husbands or—”

“Forget it.” Kelly headed for the door and Diane reluctantly pursued her.

“I think you’re overreacting,” Diane argued.

“Do you?”

As they reached the exit, Kelly said, “I don’t understand how you could be so stupid as to—”

An elderly man, entering on crutches, slipped and started to fall. For an instant, Kelly was in Paris and it was Mark who was falling,
and she reached down to save him, and at the same time, Diane moved to catch him. At that moment, from across the street two loud shots rang out, the bullets smashing into the wall where the women had been standing. The explosion brought Kelly back to instant reality. She was in Manhattan and had just had tea with a crazy woman.

“My God!” Diane exclaimed. “We—”

“This is no time to pray. Let’s get the hell out of here!”

Kelly propelled Diane to the curb where Colin was standing, next to the limousine. He pulled the car door open, and Kelly and Diane tumbled into the backseat.

“What was that noise?” Colin asked.

The two women sat there, huddled in the seat, too unnerved to speak.

Finally, Kelly said, “It—er, must have been a backfire.” She turned to Diane, who was fighting to regain her composure. “I hope I’m not overreacting,” she said sarcastically. “I’ll drop you off. Where do you live?”

Diane took a deep breath and gave Colin the address of her apartment building. The two women rode there in stony silence, shaken by what had just happened.

When the car pulled up in front of her building, Diane turned to Kelly. “Will you come in? I’m a little jittery. I have a feeling something more might happen.”

Kelly said curtly, “I have the same feeling—but it’s not going to happen to me. Good-bye, Mrs. Stevens.”

Diane looked at Kelly a moment, started to say something, then shook her head and got out of the car.

Kelly watched as Diane walked into the foyer and entered her apartment on the first floor. Kelly gave a sigh of relief.

Colin said, “Where would you like to go, Mrs. Harris?”

“Back to the hotel, Colin, and—”

There was a loud scream from the apartment. Kelly hesitated an
instant, then opened the car door and raced inside the building. Diane had left the door to her apartment wide open. She was standing in the middle of the room, trembling.

“What happened?”

“Someone—someone’s broken in here. Richard’s briefcase was on this table and it’s gone. It was filled with his papers. They left his wedding ring in its place.”

Kelly looked around nervously. “You’d better call the police.”

“Yes.” Diane remembered the card that Detective Greenburg had left on the hall table. She walked over to it and picked it up. A minute later, she was on the phone, saying, “Detective Earl Greenburg, please.”

There was a brief delay.

“Greenburg.”

“Detective Greenburg, this is Diane Stevens. Something has happened here. I wonder if you could come by the apartment and…thank you.”

Diane took a deep breath and turned to Kelly. “He’s coming. If you don’t mind waiting until he—”

“I do mind. This is your problem. I don’t want any part of it. And you might mention that someone just tried to kill you. I’m leaving for Paris. Good-bye, Mrs. Stevens.”

Diane watched as Kelly walked outside and headed for the limousine.

“Where to?” Colin asked.

“Back to the hotel, please.”

Where she would be safe.

W
HEN KELLY RETURNED
to her hotel room, she was still unnerved by what had happened. The experience of coming so close to being killed had been terrifying.
The last thing I need right now is some blonde airhead trying to get me murdered.

Kelly sank down on the couch to calm herself and closed her eyes. She tried to meditate and concentrate on a mantra, but it was no use. She was too shaken. There was an empty, lonely feeling deep inside her.
Mark, I miss you so much. People said that as time went by, I would feel better. It’s not true, my darling. Every day makes it worse.

The sound of a food cart being wheeled down the corridor made Kelly realize that she had not eaten all day. She was not hungry, but she knew she had to keep up her strength.

She phoned room service. “I’d like a shrimp salad and some hot tea, please.”

“Thank you. It should be there in twenty-five to thirty minutes, Mrs. Harris.”

“Fine.” Kelly replaced the receiver. She sat there, replaying in her mind the meeting with Tanner Kingsley, and she felt as though she had been plunged into a chilling nightmare. What was going on?

Why had Mark never mentioned Olga? Was it a business relationship? An affair? Mark, darling, I want you to know that if you did have an affair, I forgive you because I love you. I will always love you. You taught me how to love. I was cold and you warmed me. You gave me my pride back, and made me feel like a woman.

She thought about Diane.
That busybody put my life at risk. She’s someone to stay away from. That won’t be difficult. Tomorrow I’ll be in Paris, with Angel.

Her reverie was interrupted by the sound of a knock at the door. “Room service.”

“Coming.” As Kelly started toward the door, she stopped, puzzled. She had ordered just a few minutes ago.
It’s too soon.
“Just a moment,” she called.

“Yes, ma’am.”

Kelly picked up the phone and dialed room service. “My order is not here yet.”

“We’re working on it, Mrs. Harris. It should be there in fifteen or twenty minutes.”

Kelly replaced the receiver, her heart pounding. She dialed the operator.

“There’s—there’s a man trying to get into my room.”

“I’ll send a security officer right up, Mrs. Harris.”

Two minutes later, she heard another knock. Kelly walked over to the door, wary.

“Who is it?”

“Security.”

Kelly looked at her watch.
Too fast
. “I’ll be right there.” She hurried over to the telephone and called the operator again. “I called down about security. Is—”

“He’s on his way up, Mrs. Harris. He should be up there in a minute or two.”

“What is his name?” Her voice was strangled with fear.

“Thomas.”

Kelly could hear low, low whispers in the hall. She pressed her ear against the door until the voices faded. She stood there, filled with blind terror.

A minute later, there was a knock at the door.

“Who is it?”

“Security.”

“Bill?” Kelly asked. She held her breath.

“No, Mrs. Harris. It’s Thomas.”

Kelly quickly opened the door and let him in.

He regarded her a moment and said, “What happened?”

“Some—some men tried to get in here.”

“Did you see them?”

“No. I—I heard them. Would you walk me out to a taxi?”

“Certainly, Mrs. Harris.”

Kelly was trying to force herself to stay calm. Too much was happening too fast.

Thomas stayed close by Kelly’s side as they got into the elevator.

When they reached the lobby, Kelly glanced around, but she could see nothing suspicious. Kelly and the security guard walked outside, and as they reached the taxi stand, Kelly said, “Thank you very much. I appreciate it.”

“I’ll make sure that everything is all right when you come back. Whoever tried to break into your room is gone by now.”

Kelly got into a taxi. As she glanced out the rear window, she saw two men hurrying into a parked limousine.

“Where to?” the cabdriver asked Kelly.

The limousine had pulled up behind the taxi. Ahead, at the corner, a policeman was directing traffic.

“Go straight ahead,” Kelly told him.

“Okay.”

As they approached the green light, Kelly said urgently, “I want you to slow down and wait until the light changes to yellow, then make a quick left turn.”

The driver glanced at her in the rearview mirror.
“What?”

“Don’t go through the green light until it turns yellow.” She saw the expression on the driver’s face.

Kelly forced a smile. “I’m trying to win a bet.”

“Oh.”
Crazy damn passengers
.

As the light changed from green to yellow, Kelly said, “Now!”

The taxi made a fast left turn as the light turned red. Behind them, the oncoming traffic was stopped by the policeman. The men in the limousine turned to each other, frustrated.

When the taxi had gone a block, Kelly said, “Oh, I forgot something. I’ve got to get out here.”

The driver pulled over to the curb and Kelly got out of the cab and handed him some money. “Here.”

He watched Kelly hurry into the entrance to a medical building.
I hope she’s seeing a psychiatrist.

At the corner, the moment the light turned green, the limousine made a left turn. The taxi was two blocks ahead, and they raced after it.

Five minutes later, Kelly was hailing another cab.

I
N DIANE STEVENS’S
apartment, Detective Greenburg was saying, “Mrs. Stevens, did you get a look at the person who took a shot at you?”

Diane shook her head. “No, it happened so fast….”

“Whoever it was, was serious. Ballistics dug the bullets out of the wall. They were forty-five calibers, capable of piercing body armor.
You were lucky.” He hesitated. “We think that whoever it was, he was sent by Tony Altieri.”

Diane swallowed.
I’m just going to take it easy for a while, clear up a few old debts.

“We’re checking that out.”

Diane nodded.

Greenburg studied her a moment. “About the briefcase that’s missing, do you have any idea what was in it?”

“I’m not sure. Richard usually took it to the laboratory with him most mornings and brought it home at night. I saw some of the papers once and they were very technical.”

Greenburg picked up the wedding ring that was on the table. “And you said that your husband never took off his wedding ring?”

“That’s—that’s right.”

“In the days before his death, did your husband act differently than usual, as though he might be under some kind of pressure, or be worried about something? Do you remember anything that he said or did on the last night you saw him?”

It was early morning. They were in bed, naked. Richard gently stroked her thighs and said, “I’m going to be working late tonight, but save an hour or two for me, when I get home, honey.”

She touched him where he liked being touched and said, “Braggart.”

“Mrs. Stevens—”

Diane was jolted back to reality. “No. There was nothing unusual.”

“I’ll see that you have protection,” Greenburg said. “And if—”

The doorbell rang.

“Were you expecting anyone?”

“No.”

Greenburg nodded. “I’ll get it.”

He walked over to the door and opened it. Kelly Harris stormed in and brushed by him.

Kelly marched up to Diane. “We need to talk.”

Diane looked at her in surprise. “I thought you were on your way to Paris?”

“I took a detour.”

Greenburg had joined them. “This is Detective Earl Greenburg. Kelly Harris.”

Kelly turned to Greenburg. “Someone just tried to break into my hotel room, Detective.”

“Did you report it to hotel security?”

“Yes. The men were gone. A guard escorted me out.”

“Do you have any idea who they were?”

“No.”

“When you say someone tried to break in, you mean they tried to force the door?”

“No, they—they just stood out in the hall. They pretended they were from room service.”

“Had you ordered room service?”

“Yes.”

Diane said, “Then you’re probably imagining things because of what happened this morning, and—”

Kelly snapped at her. “Listen, I told you, I don’t want any part of this or of you. I’m going to pack and fly back to Paris this afternoon. You tell your Mafia friends to leave me alone.”

They watched Kelly turn and leave.

“What was that all about?” Greenburg asked.

“Her husband was—was killed. He worked for the same company Richard worked for, Kingsley International Group.”

W
HEN KELLY RETURNED
to the lobby of her hotel, she walked over to the desk. “I’m checking out,” she said. “Would you please get me a reservation on the next plane to Paris?”

“Certainly, Mrs. Harris. Any particular airline?”

“Just get me out of here.”

Kelly crossed the hotel lobby, stepped into an elevator, and pressed the button for the fourth floor. As the elevator door started to close, two men pushed it open and got in. Kelly studied them an instant, then quickly backed out into the lobby. She waited until the elevator door closed, then headed for the stairs and started to walk up.
No use taking any chances,
Kelly thought.

As she reached the fourth-floor landing, a huge man was blocking the way.

“Excuse me,” Kelly said. She started to move past him.

“Shh!” He was pointing a gun with a silencer at her.

Kelly turned pale. “What are you—?”

“Shut up. I bet you got exactly the right number of holes, lady. Unless you want an extra one, be quiet. I mean—very quiet. You and I are going downstairs.”

The man was smiling, but as Kelly looked closer, she saw that a knife crease on his upper lip had pulled his mouth up into a fixed grin. He had the coldest eyes Kelly had ever seen.

“Let’s go.”

No! I’m not going to die because of that bitch.
“Wait a minute. You have the wrong—”

She felt the gun smash so hard into her ribs that she wanted to scream.

“I told you to shut up! We’ll walk down.”

He was holding Kelly’s arm in a painful viselike grip, the gun concealed in his hand behind her back.

Kelly was fighting hysteria. “Please,” she said softly, “I’m not the—” The pain as he stabbed the muzzle of the gun against her back was excruciating. He was squeezing her arm so hard that she could feel the blood draining out.

They started down the stairs. They reached the lobby. It was
crowded, and as Kelly was debating whether to call for help, the man said, “Don’t even think about it.”

And they were outside. There was an SUV waiting at the curb. Two cars ahead, a policeman was writing a parking ticket. Kelly’s captor led her to the back door of the SUV. “Get in,” he ordered.

Kelly glanced ahead at the policeman. “All right,” Kelly said in a loud, angry voice, “I’ll get in, but I want to tell you something. What you want me to do to you will cost an extra hundred dollars. I think it’s disgusting.”

The policeman had turned to watch.

The burly man was staring at Kelly. “What the hell are you—?”

“If you won’t pay it, then forget it, you cheap bastard.”

Kelly started rapidly walking toward the policeman. The man looked after her. His lips were smiling, but his eyes were deadly.

Kelly pointed to him. “That pervert has been bothering me.”

She glanced back to see the policeman moving toward the thug. Kelly stepped into a waiting taxi.

As the burly man started to get into the SUV, the policeman said, “Just a minute, mister. It’s against the law in this state to solicit prostitutes.”

“I wasn’t—”

“Let me see some identification. What’s your name?”

“Harry Flint.”

Flint watched as Kelly’s taxi sped away.
That whore! I’ll kill her. Slowly.